Corrupted
by Hazelstiltskin
Summary: When Giroro receives two alarming messages from none other than his brother, Garuru, he high-tails off to assist him. That's when things spiral out of control. Their enemy is unknown. Locals start getting mysteriously murdered. Giroro quickly finds himself against the one Keronian who can beat him in combat. As bad becomes worse, he is left to wonder how things got so... Corrupted.
1. Chapter 1

Corporal Giroro's communicator going off so early in the morning should have been the immediate flag that something was wrong.

Furthermore, the communicator ringing again not a moment after the red Keronian groggily shut it off should have been the next. But the soldier ignored these signs; perhaps his thoughts had been clouded by the onslaught of sleep as he gave the circular and clamorous device a hefty toss out of his tent. It rolled in the pale light the moon offered, drifting to a stop across the back yard of the Hinatas.

Giroro heaved a contented grunt as its muffled rings fell silent, scrambling back into his sleeping bag. With Neko curled into the curve of his belly, he drifted back into sleep without second thought to the calls.

The device a few minutes later gave one last cry, though this chirp marked a voice mail's arrival. The communicator's last effort for attention ended in vain, for the Corporal's snores had already begun to rake through the night air, and the only one left to heed to its pleas was the feline.

Neko rose her head to peer at the closed tent flap, always one to be quick on her toes to any situation; even early morning situations. Flicking an ear with caution at the device, she wondered if her red companion had made a mistake by ignoring its desperate calls. After a contemplative moment, the cat decided the problem wasn't any of her business. Drawing her tail closer to her side, she gladly snuggled into the red warrior, finding sleep in his warm body. And the device offered no further issue.

But the cat had been right. The Corporal _had_ made a mistake. Maybe if he had answered the call, things wouldn't have gone downhill so quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Giroro awoke with a grumble, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He immediately sought for what had brought him out of his slumber. The culprit was revealed as the sunlight filtering in through his tent flap, which leaked warm and bright across his sleeping bag. Squinting, he wondered why it hadn't been zipped fully shut. Not a heartbeat later he remembered the interruption from earlier that night. What fool would even think of calling him near 0400?

Gently pushing Neko away from his side to keep from disturbing her own peaceful slumber, he clambered out of the bag. _Never mind that_, the Corporal thought as he gingerly stretched forward his arms, _I won't let such tomfoolery ruin my plans. _With a bit of afterthought, he realized he didn't have any plans. Not to say Keroro wouldn't finally come up with a plan of his own; hopefully it would be an invasion plan, if anything. In fact, maybe today was the day they would finally conquer Pekopon!

Giroro quickly realized he was getting ahead of himself, and the corners of his mouth twitched in amusement as he knew such a thing was next to impossible.

Turning around to gaze over his tent, he decided to busy himself. The morning was calm and warm, perfect for working on his weapons. He shuffled towards a few which had been lain off to the side. After being recently used, he'd never returned them properly to where they belonged.

Giroro set to work on sorting the weapons to be placed into their correct containers and boxes. Ending with a few various piles, he sought for their original cases. He placed a set of rifles into a tub and carefully snapped it closed. A dagger was returned to its cushioned box. Some shells to some old cardboard packaging. He found himself relaxed as he worked in his element, listening to the soft breathing of Neko and occasional muffled sound from outside of his tent.

Picking up a final weapon, an RX-78, he turned it over a couple of times and moved it towards its box. A glare crept onto his face as he noticed specks of dust littering the creases of the weapon, as well as the smudges on the handle.

Fumbling for a rag, for such a blemish could not be ignored, he grabbed the RX series weapon and made his way out of the tent.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the brighter light. As they did, Giroro frowned at the sight of Keroro's busied form, back turned. The Sergeant was hanging laundry and humming to himself. Hopefully, Giroro thought while clutching the cleaning cloth tightly, the idiot wouldn't notice him. Almost as if listening to his thoughts, the green frog turned to reach for another article of clothing and caught sight of the Corporal.

"Ah, Giroro! There you are!" Keroro exclaimed, dropping a set of pins he clutched in his hands. "I found your transmitter over there. It says you have a message! What's it about?" The nosy Keronian shot down the step-ladder he'd been perched on and pulled something from behind his back. Giroro felt a vein bulge on his cheek as he found himself face-to-face with the communicator; a small ball wired to the transmitter was blinking, reflecting Keroro's words about the new message.

"I found this laying over there in the grass, right by the bushes," Keroro paused, and hesitantly added, "I-I'm not sure how it got there, though."

He obviously thought Giroro would blame him for the ball's disappearance, and Giroro wouldn't deny he _would _have blamed the green Keronian, if it hadn't been his own doing that separated himself with the ball. Not waiting for an answer, Keroro gave the communicator a toss, obviously ignoring the fact he was mere inches away from the Corporal.

"Oi, don't throw that!" The red alien barked, dropping his gun to catch the delicate piece of technology. It was both a worrying yet exciting thought to think someone had sent him a message; he didn't get these often. He raised the communicator up to his ear to have a listen, though quickly noticed Keroro's black gaze burning into his.

"Why do you care so much about this message?" He queried with a glower, wondering if the Sergeant had been expecting a call that had gone to Giroro by mistake. "It's not a prank, is it?" He quipped.

"Jeez, there's no reason to be so uptight, Giroro!" Keroro exclaimed, clasping his wrists together behind his head. As Giroro's glower thickened, he dropped his palms and forced a chuckle, "Gero gero! N-No, I didn't! And why would I want to know what the message was if I'd heard it already?"

"…Yeah, you aren't smart enough to pull off something like that," Giroro finally grunted, rolling the communicator in his hands. _Maybe I shouldn't check the message_, he reflected, tuning out Keroro's angry rebuke. Maybe Keroro and the Private had teamed up to make him look like a fool. In fact, Kururu was probably helping them. With these angering thoughts in mind, he didn't want the communicator in his sight. He scowled and turned to roll the ball through the parted flap of his tent.

Before he could do so, a change in the air chilled him to the bone; a shiver rolled down his spine as the sudden light flow of air tickled his skin. He slowly tightened his fingers, staring hard at the object he held. Giroro's unblinking eyes seemed to blur as he lost himself in a mild bout of thought, transfixed with the communicator.

What if it was an important message from headquarters? Or another rank shift? Maybe it was some sort of emergency. As he tussled between his dignity and an emergency, another thought became incipient in his mind.

The continuous flow of wind seemed to be begging him to check the ball. Little did the Corporal realize it was fate's last warning to correct things before it was too late.

Giroro gave a snort to the thought of the wind wanting him to do something; he never believed in such things before, why was he wondering about this now? He had his mind set on not checking the message, at least not now, and his stubborn side showed no sign of letting up on this choice. Giroro let the ball slide from his fingertips. The wind dropped suddenly, just as it had started, leaving only a chilling heartbeat of silence.

Then a shrill scream that pierced his ear drums. With a sudden adrenaline boost, he whipped around, fingers outstretched as he scooped up his weapon. He noticed a white object hit the ground. "What happened?" His demand was drowned under another scream, woven with fear and anguish.

"This is Natsumi's shirt! She's going to kill me, I just washed this!" Keroro had leapt to the site of the incident, holding up the now-covered-in-dirt-and-debris top. "That stupid wind, what was up with that?" He gave an enraged stomp before storming into the house with the shirt trailing through the air behind him.

Giroro couldn't breathe until the sliding glass door slammed shut, his fingers loosening around his gun. How pathetic, Keroro had gotten him worked up for nothing! But what _was _with that wind? It was quite odd, though there was no possible way for that to have been intentional.

…Unless it had been the work of ghosts?

Deciding such a thing was _not_ up for debate, a tremble rolling down his legs at the mere thought of the paranormal, he figured it was time he cleaned his gun. Hopefully with Keroro gone he wouldn't be distracted.

Eyeing the scraps of a campfire from the previous night, the crimson Keronian circled a cinderblock that lay just on the edge of the singed remains and settled himself onto it.

Placing his gun in his lap, he wasted no time in setting to work. He teased out the blemishes with the pale cloth, fighting to see a gleam in the metal once more. He noticed trigger seemed a bit clingy; the weapons enthusiast made a personal note to disassemble and grease the thing when he got the chance.

"_Mao!_" Neko wove into the edge of his vision, and he looked down to her with a chuckle, offering a pat to the head. It was accepted gladly, the feline rubbing her maw against his fingers.

"I hope you slept well." Giroro gave her a final scratch behind the ears before turning back to his gun. But the crimson Keronian's mind was fixed on the communicator, and the ominous feeling that buried itself in the pit of his belly at what the messages could possibly say. Was he getting himself into trouble by not listening, or would he be in trouble once he did?

There was only one way to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

"…" The shaky hand of the Corporal slowly lowered from his ear. He couldn't grip the communicator tight enough; it toppled from his hand and clattered across his tent floor. Giroro stared at it, his mind quickly going numb. Trying to keep all sanity from slipping between his fingers, the Corporal recalled his day.

The invasion meeting had come and gone with Keroro offering the idea of Pekoponian children's textbooks being replaced with information about Keron, thus causing all Pekoponians to worship Keroro. That idea was quickly swept aside as current Pekoponian internet proved constant and updated. Such a thing would easily be corrected and forgotten.

The meeting then dismissed, Giroro returned to his tent. He'd baked some sweet potatoes, watched Keroro take in the laundry, and then entered his tent as night began to yawn over the planet. It may not have been the most productive day but the Corporal found it relaxing.

Until, of course, he had come across his communicator again. Not wanting to delay a moment longer he had finally willed himself to listen to the message- or what had turned out to be two messages.

"Mao?" Neko's worried mew brought Giroro back to the present; the red Keronian jerked around to stare at her. He wasn't sure if even Neko would be able to put his mind at ease after those messages.

"_Damn it_…_" _Giroro clutched his fists, swinging a kick at a wooden crate of sweet potatoes. With a hiss of pain, he started a pace around his tent. Neko worriedly followed his laps with her gaze.

Giroro stopped in front of the communicator, just barely managing to keep himself from aiming a kick at that as well. "I… I need to think. First of all, I shouldn't be so worried," He growled through grit teeth as he scooped up the device, "This is Garuru we're talking about. He can very well handle himself."

After letting out a series of slow breaths, the Corporal rolled his fingers over the exterior of the device. "I, I need to listen to these again,"

He pressed the device to his ear and after a heartbeat the first message played back.

"Corporal Giroro, its Lieutenant Garuru," The ever-so-familiar voice was deep and calm, and it seemed all was fine at whatever moment he had left the message. Never being one to beat around the bush, the Keronian carried on, "Headquarters was tired of waiting for your Sergeant to send in his paperwork, but instead of another Nyororo I offered to come collect. It's certainly been awhile since I have seen the Keroro Platoon's invasion progress firsthand. Sorry for contacting you at such early hours, but it seems there was a bit of an error getting to the Hinata household. With all respect I request that you deliver some form of transportation; since I am already on Pekopon, I won't be bothering Headquarters with such a request."

The Lieutenant continued, giving his coordinates in relevance to Pekopon's geography. Giroro fidgeted with the communicator, quite upset he hadn't answered to his brother's call in the first place. But that wasn't the most upsetting part of the first message.

It was the ending of the message that unnerved him; after his brother finished describing the location he would be waiting for them, there was a sudden commotion. It started with the loud bang of a gun firing. There was heavy silence until the Lieutenant let out a shout asking about what they were doing shooting a weapon so close to him. He was cut off by another string of bullets being fired followed by sudden gusts of wind, signaling Garuru had either dropped whatever he'd made the call with or had started moving quickly.

"It seems like there's a _problem,_" When Garuru spoke again, his voice suddenly dripped with malice, "And I'll need to call you back." Giroro could pick up the almost metallic hum of a weapon being spawned before the message clicked to an end.

Garuru had in fact called back a few moments after. The voicemail gave a chirp and began playing the second of the duo of messages:

"Giroro, this is Lieutenant Garuru once again," He paused, and past his pants Giroro noted that Garuru was either fleeing from or in pursuit of whoever he was facing, "I request backup of the Keroro Platoon, at the previously given coordinates, heading approximately southeast. Being pursued by…" There was an explosion and the name and or description Garuru offered was indistinct and unable to be deciphered. "Once again, I am requesting-"

A sudden shout came from Garuru, and it made Giroro's stomach clench. More bullets rang through the speakers. Someone was serious in going after the purple Keronian, and they were determined to bring him down. This attacker had to be really smart or really stupid; did they have any idea of who they were up against?

Giroro heard another weapon spawn, and despite how this was the second time he listened over these voicemails he couldn't help but jump at the distinct sound of Garuru's rifle being fired. It must have been a quickly worsening situation if the Lieutenant had resorted to his most precious of weapons.

This worked to bring the Corporal to further unease.

At this point, Garuru had stopped speaking, and the fight ran on for a good minute. Clip after clip of ammo, the clatter of a grenade shell followed by an explosion. Giroro was disheartened when he heard Garuru calmly state in some form of reply, "Of course not, this battle has just begun."

A faint and quite unrecognizable voice replied, "Actually, I believe this battle has just ended, Lieutenant Garuru!"

"Oh, so you've heard of me? Then you realize assaulting me is an act of treason of its own, and even worse as an act against the Keron Army? Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air."

Giroro knew this tone well, and he felt the slightest impulse to raise his own hands. Whoever ignored a demand given in such a voice surely had a death wish!

"So basically you're saying I'm already in trouble? …Well, if I'm going down either way, why stop now!"

"Are you refusing an… What do you think you're doing?" Garuru's voice was thick with suspicion, and he began once again, "Step away or I will be forced to-"

A distinct ripping sound was accompanied by a heavy thump.

Giroro was turning cold as he continued listened, hearing a laugh that ran into a cackle, and then a rustling as his brother's form of communication was grabbed. "Ooh, what's this? You actually called for _backup_? How _amusing_, the great Lieutenant Garuru can't deal with a single Keronian! _Aha ha ha ha_!" While the apparent Keronian laughed it up on the other end, Giroro ground his teeth. His fists clenched, vision slightly blurring in the onslaught of rage he was being pounded with.

"I'll tell you this, whoever happens to hear this that is, you _aren't _going to be getting your precious Lieutenant back. _Hua ha ha ha!_"

The transmission promptly ended.

The communicator once again found itself hurled across the Hinata backyard in rage.

"And I'll tell you this, you bastard, I'll be getting my brother back even if I have to shove some bullets up your ass in the process!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Gero? You're leaving to do _what?!" _A green hand raved through the air in discontent.

"I'm, I'm going to—Just—Grah! Family matters!" Giroro spat, clenching the gears of his hovercraft tightly. His mind was far from his current conversation and he struggled to spew words to stop the green Keronian from bothering him.

"What kind of 'family matters' involve so many _weapons?" _Keroro bounced around him, looking at the pack he bore on his back; the luggage had guns poking out as well as various hunting knives dangling from key rings. Giroro clutched the brake and pressed forward on the gears, sending up a puff of smoke to emphasize he was in a hurry. It all the more appeased the crimson warrior as Keroro started hacking and spluttering out the smoke that reeked of gasoline.

Tamama's hushed reply to Keroro was barely audible above the rattle of his hovercraft, "The kind of matters that involve Garuru."

"G-Garuru? Is the Garuru Platoon here again?!" Keroro returned in a failed attempt of a whisper.

"No," Giroro snapped, "No, just drop it! Go build a Gundam toy or something; this shouldn't take long for me to deal with!"

"They aren't _toys!" _Keroro indignantly remarked, though his guff fell on deaf ears. The Corporal was taking no more of this. The Sergeant must have seen the gleam in Giroro's eyes as he suddenly sprawled forward to slap the others hands off of the gears.

"What about the invasion? You're a part of a Platoon; you can't just leave us to invade by ourselves!" Keroro rather dramatically sobbed, flopping all about Giroro's personal space.

Giroro shoved the sniveling green mess away with a scowl. "What were the chances of you invading Pekopon _anyway_ within the next few days? I shouldn't be gone for long!" He repeated, his already thin patience being pushed to the brink.

"Fine, but if you aren't back in a few days we're invading without you!" Keroro crossed his arms as if his statement would _definitely _change the Corporal's mind, now rounding on Tamama. "Isn't that right, Private?"

"Uhh, ye-yes Sir!" Tamama slapped a wrist to his forehead, though his gaze held a flicker of doubt to that plan.

That same doubt was unhidden in Giroro's tone as he muttered, "Yeah, good luck with that,"

Rocking the gear forward, the red hovercraft gave a low, rumbling hum before picking up off the ground. Giving the pair of Keronians who had bothered to see to his departure from the Hinata's backyard a curt nod, he released the clutch and took off, taking the time to gain height before pointing his hovercraft in the right direction and advancing. He glanced back at the scenery he was so familiar with as it rolled out of view.

_Garuru… By the time I get there, I hope I see a Keronian's head rolling on the ground, _he growled to himself. A chill rolled down his spine. _And not yours._

* * *

Deep crimson eyes were slowly drawn over a forest of green; literally. The trees stretched on for as far as the Keronian could see. Dotted here and there were small clearings, campsites, or Pekoponian villages, but his vision was mostly obscured by the vast shade of green. This irritated him; what if an enemy were to attack him? If he spun around to fight them he could easily loose his target in the backdrop of emerald.

But what intrigued the Keronian about this setting is how it almost reminded him of where the Admiral, also known as the Hinata children's grandmother, had lived. He reveled in the memory of his battle training. After the heat of such events he'd managed to get himself injured. Seeing as he would never admit getting assistance on the battlefield, he classified it as '_coincidental assistance' _when a figure had come along and offered him herbs that just _happened_ to be perfect for his particular wounds. It was just a coincidence. Pure luck. He could've handled those injuries alone!

The war he'd waged with himself was ended by a chirp. It took the bewildered Keronian a moment to realize what had made the noise. It came to him in a rush; the tracking device Kururu had made when their leader once went missing was in his possession.

_What was that name… The Search Radar and Infantryman Assault Flight Unit, _Giroro recalled. What he _didn't_ want to recall were those few 'tasks' he'd had to do in order to get such a thing from the maniacal scientist. He could still detect the faintest whiff of curry on his being now…

Pulling the disc-like object from his bag, he gave it a light toss. It caught itself and hovered above his hand, a red LED circling the whole of the ring before pointing in the direction he was going with another chirp. '_Target found. Destination is Hara Kouya Train Station. Proceed North.'_

Giroro eyed the device. He could always equip it, wing pack in tow, but didn't want to go to such drastic measures just yet. He was quite relieved he'd get specific directions to his brother, though someone such as himself wouldn't rush straight to battle without having a battle plan or tactic of the sort.

With this in mind, he wondered who he was up against. Was this Keronian some ex-villian running from the law? Or some punk who just wanted bragging rights to his little buddies about taking down a Lieutenant? It could always be some kid, who by now had gotten a pat on the back and an autograph and was contentedly on his way back to Keron. Their voice had been very indistinct; it could be anything from a young tadpole to a grown Keronian woman! But whichever way Giroro looked at it this assailant was armed and dangerous, demanding complete caution when in battle.

_Beep! 'Target within one kilometer. Proceed North.'_

Giroro cast a glance at the disc now hovering by his shoulder before cooperating with its words. Alighting from the air, he began his slow descent to the ground. He soon noticed as he neared the trees the flashes of silver between branches; railroad tracks stretched in each direction, splitting through the forest.

The set of rails that really grabbed his attention was the one pointing towards the sky; though skillfully masked by an anti-barrier, it would be a hard landmark for any alien to miss.

His craft brushed over treetops, which began to thin as the Hara Kouya Station revealed itself. From what the Keronian could see the building was small and rather old, yet not unused as told by the aliens who stood about here and there. Giroro stowed the disc, which now informed him of his arrival to his destination, into the safety of his bag and landed his hovercraft a quick trek away from the station. The last thing he wanted was his hovercraft to get stolen, leaving him in the same predicament as his brother.

He dedicated a moment to make sure his precious device of transportation was well hidden; picking up some twigs and grass of the sort he set to work camouflaging the hovercraft. Though the anti-barrier could prevent Pekoponians from seeing it, he wasn't sure if the other aliens would see it and wish to take it as their own.

As he finished scattering leaves atop he felt that it was safe, as well as invisible to the enemy eye.

His business settled the Keronian strode from the forest, making his way towards the Station's building. Passing a few more trees and shrubs he once again came into view of the old grey building that Giroro now had the chance to observe firsthand. As stated, it was very _old_. Paint peeled from its sides and it's windows were grimy and covered in debris. It was also wide, though in general smaller than a house. Due to this fact it didn't hold many rooms, though it did hold a roofed balcony where a few aliens could be found chatting with one another or looking over the galactic space train times.

He jerked his gaze down as a sharp pain shot up his leg. He'd stubbed his foot on the metal train track railing. Well, that was just his luck, wasn't it? The fact that this wasn't the first time it had happened irritated him; in fact, this was possibly the third time it had happened, thanks to one of Keroro's stupid invasion plans.

No grass grew around the rails, though pebbles and a few old nails littered the ground. He hadn't stepped on any, though that would be in his line of luck as well.

Shaking off the slight pain, Giroro doubted any Pekoponians were around or in the building seeing as the aliens weren't equipped with their anti-barriers. But he was still wary, especially since this is where Garuru had gone missing. As he stepped onto the track tail, which was cold and slippery below his feet, he cast his gaze out each direction before rushing across to the station. He wanted to take no chances, Pekoponians here or not.

Panting lightly, Giroro took a moment to check the outside of the station for signs of Garuru. He looked for bullets or scorched objects, showing signs of weapons or a struggle. He peeked past the other aliens, who cast him curious glances, though he couldn't muster up the dignity to ask them. He usually did things on his own and that was that.

After letting out a distressed snort, he decided to go over the radius of the building in an odd hope that he would find his brother lurking around the corner and they could share an awkward laugh before he lead his superior to the Hinata house.

By the time he jogged back to the main entrance, panting, there was no immediate sign that the purple Keronian had been here at all.

Not one to be disheartened the Corporal made haste in opening the wide door to the building, quite confident no Pekoponians were around. As soon as he stepped foot within he began to scan the innards of the building.

It was a small receptionist's room, and as guessed only held a couple of rooms. A bathroom sign was hung on one of them and the other was labeled as a supply closet. Giroro ignored those. What kind of gun fight would happen in a closet or bathroom?

Taking in the main room, he realized the building had been long stripped of its electricity and the only source of light came from those dirty windows. They made up large sections of the walls, and the Corporal wondered if they were sliding doors. He noticed a pair of fish-like alien children doodling pictures into the grime, much like fog on a bathroom's mirror.

Turning his gaze, unwilling to be distracted, he eyed the counter that stretched from the wall. It was covered with dusty maps and the wall behind it sprouted an array of T.V.'s, possibly for surveillance. These items held no value to him and were overlooked. His eyes were still intent for the gleam of a bullet or burn from a laser. Anything to show his brother had been here, anything at all—

"Hey, you look like that one guy!"

The Corporal's train of thought took a dive off of a mountain, possibly into an ocean. (Who was driving this train, Keroro?) As he turned, stiff legged, he noticed the two alien children now facing him. He had no clue what these fish-like children _were_, and he conveniently had no damns to worry about it.

"I look like _who?_" Giroro growled, brow furrowing.

"That, that one guy who was here… Umm… I'm not sure who! But he had a really cool weapon!" The first fish sung.

"Yeah, yeah! And the way he battled the other one? Priceless! His shots were dead on; it sucks the other one was cheating, he would have been all bloody! That would have been so _cool_!" The other fish piped in.

Giroro grew still as stone. Really cool weapon? Dead on shots? This sounded like none other than Garuru.

So there had been a fight after all, Garuru was really in trouble and this wasn't some twisted form of a prank as he'd hoped.

But cheating? What did these children mean by cheating?

* * *

**Normally I don't add Author's Notes. I'm too lazy to~**

**But here I had to, after having it pointed out to me.  
**

**Ahem.  
**

**'What did these children mean by cheating?'  
**

**"DOUBLE CHILDREN, ALL THE WAAAYY!"  
**

**"CHEATING, WHAT DOES THIS MEEEEEAAAAN?"  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Giroro was determined to get answers from these aliens. They were his only lead so far and he was not going to give up now! His body craved a fight, and in particular _this _fight, as he knew he could teach this Keronian a lesson not soon to be forgotten.

"Who was fighting who? And where?" Giroro asked, his words coming out slightly faster than intended.

"Err, these two dudes... In the fight earlier… Right outside… Uhmm…" The first fish grew silent, eying the red Keronian before him as if he were crazy.

"Right outside, you say? And what did you mean by _cheating?" _He now stepped forward, eyes cold.

The pair of fish beings exchanged glances, and scooted aside to reveal the window behind them.

"Y-Yeah, right across the tracks outside is where it started, and then they ran out of sight into that thicket over there," The other spoke up now, stammering slightly. Perhaps they had caught the almost maniacal look in the Keronian's eye as he picked up clues to this case.

"We'll be… going… now?" The first said, a nudge with its elbow to the other not going unnoticed by the Corporal.

"Eh, ehe, y-yes, we will! I hear mother, and she's… calling us now! Best of luck to you," The other gave a tiny nod and scurried for the door, the other close behind.

Giroro paid their exit no heed, instead dedicating his focus to the now smudged and crude drawings they'd been working on. There were some pictures of various aliens, weapons, food even, but… Sure enough, there were two Keronians were scribbled into the muck. They duo was unmistakably his own kind, with the round heads and plump little bodies. He squinted, leaning forward to try and make something out of this.

Garuru was easy to distinguish, as he had a line going across his stomach. Or at least he hoped that was his belt and not some flesh wound. 'Garuru' also held a huge box with a stick pointing off. The Corporal was appalled. The child- the _professional _within got the better of him as he propped himself against the window with one hand and worked a digit through the slime with the other, going over the rifle's outline to make it look as it truly should. So much was wrong; the scope was missing, the barrel had vanished, and how was he to shoot without a trigger? Who drew this, a child?!

It looked worse in the end than when the children had drawn it.

That's right, Giroro had never been good at drawing in the first place.

Ignoring the blemish and moving on, he looked to the other Keronian… Who had been replaced with a Keronian-sized handprint.

"Damn!" Giroro seethed, trying to make out the Keronian's appearance. It was an undecipherable mix of clear window and lines that filtered in light from outside. Stomping away from the glass, he tried to draw together something good out of this. At least knew his brother _had _been here. And right outside, apparently!

Slamming open the door, Giroro exited the station. Right across the rails? How had he not noticed on his way over?

After hopping the rails once more, he began carefully drawing his around for evidence. Evidence could be in the form of a bullet, a laser… blood even! Just a sign of any sort to show that there was a battle here at some point in time.

Then the Corporal noticed something. A normal, plain footprint just nonchalantly planted on the ground. Maybe not. Upon closer inspection, the egg-shaped dent in the ground was definitely Keronian!

This print was very deep into the dirt and quite spaced out from the next. Whoever had left this had been running. Once again, he mentally scolded himself for not noticing this earlier as he continued to follow the footprints, grass starting to sprout underfoot. This was bad; trees swallowed up bullet marks, grass never retained footprint molds, and the color green on its own was nauseating enough thanks to a certain Sergeant.

As Giroro walked alongside the display of various footprints, he kept an open mind to the color crimson. Half of his mind told him to stop looking now in case he did see the splatter blood, settling this matter as it would instantly tell of what befell his compeer. The other half of his mind scoffed at him for wanting to give up and told him to keep going, to practice the endurance and courage of a true soldier.

Despite this, the Keronian's mind was mostly intent on red hues. This caused him to almost miss the loop of scorched punctures in the earth.

Upon spotting these, Giroro bent down on a knee to take a closer look; these were just the kind of weapon marks he was looking for! These kinds of marks were left by a basic laser pistol, sold just about at every corner of the galaxy. He glanced back and noticed the nearby footprints were twisted with dirt kicked up in clumps. Perhaps whoever had been here had turned on their heels to attack the other?

Intent on any kind of answer, the Corporal continued along the path left in the wake of the gun skirmish, jogging as though this was a book he could skim through for the next plot twist.

_Wait, what was that flash… _Giroro strode forward, curtly prying apart a shrub to pick up the item it concealed. He rolled it over in his hands, identifying it as a space pistol that had been shot on one end, the laser plowing straight through the insides and out the other. The frog couldn't help but give a small grin, holding it up to look through like a telescope. Such a feat could only be accomplished by Garuru.

After a moment, he tossed aside the weapon. This was of no use to him; it was broken after all.

Giroro stepped over a twig and followed the laser piercings and lessening signs of footprints as grass was now steady underfoot. Trees loomed around him, whispering to one another in excitement.

What the Corporal saw next on his quest for evidence were pieces of technology scattered across the ground. As if some kind of explosive had gone off; all living things around this plant for a few feet or so were withered and burnt. He recalled hearing something along the lines of an explosion in his voicemail. What was next? His brother had run a bit more then generated his rifle, or so he recalled. He doubted he would find the massive weapon despite it being used, seeing as the enemy would probably have taken it as a prize.

He followed the last scraps of evidence, a broken tree branch and last spray of bullets, until there was nothing left. Nothing except for… Giroro neared the object protruding from the ground. _This is… Garuru's communicator?_

Though fried and heavily scuffed, this was surely the Lieutenants. Giroro looked it over for any fingerprints of the sort. Nothing. Growling, the Corporal threw it at the nearest tree and watched it smash and clatter to the ground. Though momentarily satisfying, anger ran rampant through his mind within a matter of seconds. If the two were nowhere near the battle scene anymore, where the hell was Garuru?!

* * *

**Lolyus, another author's note. I'm so sorry.**** x'3  
**

**Kind of a short chapter, but I wanted to get this out of the way. I'm not sure when I'll update next, but at least (for now) I seem to have bested my writer's block!  
**

**Derp. xD  
**

**This was already done and just needed some proofing to be uploaded, and I do kind of want to make up for my slow update, so here~! I can't reply to PMs until tomorrow, otherwise it'll stink and make no sense because I'm not doing this on my computer. x'D  
**

**So... Umm... Yup! Review this chapter if you'd like, I loves me my reviews. c: Even if it's like a sentence. I luffles them. Squee~!  
**


End file.
